Order Out of Chaos: The Need for a Union Terminal - 1880-1933

When Union Terminal opened in 1933, it replaced five railroad passenger stations in Cincinnati. These stations, all built in the 19th century, were scattered across the city basin and supported the seven railroads that operated here: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (CCC&St.L, a.k.a. The Big Four) [later part of New York Central], Southern Railway (SR), Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W), Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N), and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C&O).

These stations were cramped, inconvenient for connecting passengers, and frequently shut down when the river flooded, often because their tracks were underwater. Very few of the trains entering Cincinnati prior to the construction of Union Terminal were "through" trains, a mere 20 percent. This meant that many rail travelers would arrive at one of the five stations and then have to leave their train and be conveyed along with their baggage to another station to continue to their desired destination. This created a bottleneck that made Cincinnati a city to avoid when traveling by rail.

As early as the 1880s, people were talking about building a union terminal in the city to try and fix these issues. Many plans and studies were produced, but most of them failed for several reasons: they planned to build near the heart of downtown and they required that all seven railroads to agree on the location and to help fund the projects.

One plan, commissioned by local business leaders, was prepared by John Bleekman, a New York railroad planner, in 1910. It called for a massive terminal along the river front on Third Street between Main and Walnut. This building would combine both passenger rail and freight operations in one location. The building would be capped with a large office tower to accommodate the demand for a modern skyscraper in the city. Although the project had a lot of good points, its $30 million price tag made it impossible to finance without railroad support. The railroads, which had not been involved in the Bleekman Plan, showed little interest in the project. As a result, the project and other planning efforts languished until World War I, when the nationalization of the railroads temporarily ended the discussions.

After World War I, the idea reemerged with the return of civilian control of the railroads. The troop movements during the war had further highlighted the poor passenger rail situation in the city and local business and civic leaders felt that this, along with the scattered freight operations in the city, was earning Cincinnati a reputation as a city to avoid for both freight and passenger rail. In 1924, the Cincinnati Railroad Development Co. was incorporated and appointed local businessman George Dent Crabbs as president. Crabbs worked with the railroads and secured two important agreements that moved the union terminal project forward. In 1926 he got the railroads to agree on unified freight facilities and in 1927 the railroads also agreed to consolidate the passenger facilities. Following these agreements, the Cincinnati Union Terminal Company was formed, whose job would be to construct and then operate a union terminal.

The site chosen by the company for the new station fit with the site recommended by the 1925 City Master Plan, which shifted the terminal from its pre-WWI proposed downtown location, to a location just east of the Mill Creek in the West End. The site was considered ideal from a number of perspectives, not the least of which was the open space adjacent to the Mill Creek was ready for development and the cheaper prices of the property in that area. Also, four of the city’s seven railroads already had tracks and facilities in the Mill Creek basin and the valley was wide enough for future expansion.

New York architects Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner were chosen to design the new station and Paul Cret from Philadelphia was hired by the Union Terminal Company to advise Fellheimer & Wagner's designer, Roland Wank, on the proposed design. The initial proposal had called for a classical structure, which was very costly and by that time, fairly out of style. Cret and Wank were tasked to bring the design into the modern style, what we now call Art Deco. Ground was broken in 1929, just before the stock market crash.

As the rail yards in the Mill Creek valley were expanded, the existing viaducts that crossed over the tracks and Mill Creek required replacement. As part of the overall project, the Western Hills Viaduct was built jointly by the Cincinnati Union Terminal Company and the City of Cincinnati, so that Harrison Ave would still connect to the rest of the city.

During construction, four artists contributed outstanding examples of public art. German born artist Winold Reiss prepared paintings which were then turned into 23 glorious glass tile mosaic panels by Ravenna Tile. French born Pierre Bourdelle provided art for the Men’s and Women’s lounges, the three dining spaces, Newsreel Theater, as well as the alcove outside of a women’s restroom located in the dining area. Sculptor Maxfield Keck carved the two massive bas relief figures on the front of the building, representing Transportation and Commerce. William Hentschel, who worked for Rookwood Pottery, created the designs for the tile installation in the Tea Room.

Image Citations1 Post Card Collection Post card view of the proposed Court Street Union Depot. This artist’s rendering of what the station might have looked like is as far as the project managed to get before failing.2 Post Card Collection Another post card view, this time of the 1910 Union Depot proposal. This is one of the more detailed and sophisticated Union Depot plans that emerged in the years prior to the construction of Union Terminal. The design was heavily promoted, using postcards like this and other materials, to raise support and funding for the proposal.3 Printed Works Collection Official City Plan of Cincinnati, Ohio adopted by the City Planning Commission, 1925 This is a map showing proposed urban development from the 1925 City Master Plan. While parts of the plan were never completed, several elements of the plan did become reality, including the placement of a future union terminal; 3 B-89-156 Transportation: Railroads | Union Terminal This is an artist’s sketch from Fellheimer and Wagner’s original Union Terminal design. The style they chose was beaux-arts. This shows how they envisioned the design of the rotunda in the original concept.4 Krotty/Thorp Collection SC#20 This clay model represents what the exterior of the station would have looked like in the original design concept. While a vaguely familiar shape and layout, the beaux-arts elements give the building a completely different feel from the art deco style of the final design.5 CUT Progress Photos SC#319 #8.91 Here we see the arch over Spring Grove Avenue under construction. The Western Hills Viaduct would cross the Mill Creek, the rail yard, and with its double deck design, connect traffic from Queen City Ave and Harrison Ave with Spring Grove Ave and Central Parkway.6 CUT Progress Photos SC#319 #8.239 Here we see the east end of the upper deck of the Western Hills Viaduct under construction.7 CUT Progress Photos SC#319 #8.220 This picture from the rail yard show part of the 3,500ft long Western Hills Viaduct crossing over the yard.8 B-91-057 Transportation: Railroads | Interior This group of men was responsible for the installation of the mosaic murals. They worked for Ravenna Tile, the company that took Winold Reiss’ paintings and translated them into the mosaic medium.9 B-80-199 Transportation: Railroads | Union Terminal This is a construction photo of the two bas reliefs on the terminal façade, this one being the north relief representing Commerce, which was carved in place by Maxfield Keck.10 Krotty/Thorp Collection SC#20 This is a photograph of Pierre Bourdelle, the artist responsible for the art work in many of the public spaces of Union Terminal, including the lounges and dining rooms.